Wilting Roses
by hopelessromantic220
Summary: Rose Weasley is not happy. Her parents are divorced and her mother mentally abuses her. No longer possessing the will to live she decides to commit suicide on graduation day. But then Scorpius Malfoy interferes. Letting her see a secret side of himself he falls for Rose. And as their graduation date nears Rose begins to second guess her suicide. But will love be enough to save her?
1. Chapter 1

I let out a strangled sob as I slid the blade across my arm one last time. Blood trickled from the dozens of thin cuts on my forearm. I sink back against the bathtub as tears stream down my cheeks.

_I'm so bloody fucked up. Nobody cares. I can't end it yet. Just survive until graduation this year._ My mind reminds me that I only have to hold on a few more months, then I can let go. As my eyelids droop, I hide my blades back in the lining of my trunk and lay down on my bed, passing out from exhaustion.

* * *

"Rosalie Molly Weasley, get down here this minute! We're going to be late!" Mum bellows from downstairs. I grimace and turn back to my mirror. My sleek, dark red hair falls down my back. Mum will be obviously displeased when she notices my bangs in my face, along with my wearing a long sleeved dark blue shirt and black jeans with some blue Vans instead of my Hogwarts robes. But, I really don't give a damn; Mum and I have never gotten along. After her and Dad's divorce when I was ten and Hugo was eight, I moved out of the house and into a flat with Dad in London. The only reason I was here now is that Dad was out on an Auror mission in Ireland and when Hugo told Mum she went ballistic and refused to let me stay alone.

Shoving my iPhone and headphones in my pocket, I sling my bag over my shoulder and bound down the stairs, cringing in pain as I do. When I reach the front of the house where Hugo stands silently with Mum, I give a sarcastic, "Love you too, Mum." As she makes a disgusted noise when she sees me and then storms out the door. Hugo, who stands two heads taller than me even though he's two years younger, grabs my arm gently as I make to go follow her to the car and turns me to face him.

My brother looks at me with concern in his brown eyes. I sigh and duck out of his way, avoiding the question on his lips. Mum honks the horn as we get in the car. Scowling at me from the corner of her eye, she backs out of the drive way and heads towards Kings Cross.

* * *

"Rose!" Albus cries as I walk into his line of view and approach the hoard of Weasley and Potter relatives near the train. His hair is short, messy, and black and his eyes are a weird hazel color that stares back at you through a pair of glasses. My cousin's tan complexion and slightly muscular appearance make him a target for every whore in Hogwarts, but to me, he'll always look like a doofus.

"Hello there, Alby boy." I say, dodging his attempt to hug me. He looks slightly annoyed by this, but before he can say anything, Aunt Ginny swoops down on me.

"Rose, I haven't seen you in forever. I've missed you so much sweetie. Are you excited for your last year at Hogwarts as Head Girl?" she asks quickly. I nod numbly, crossing my arms.

"I was busy this summer, Aunt Ginny. And I'm just excited that it's almost over." I say, trying to give her a smile. Then Uncle George sees my distress and pulls her away from me before she can ask me more personal questions, mouthing _"You're welcome"_ as he pulls her over to his wife Angelina. Before I can run away from the family, Uncle Harry stops me.

"Hey, Rose." He says softly. I nod at him and duck my head, staring at my blue Vans. "Where's your Mum?" he asks gently. I shrug, rocking on the balls of my feet uneasily. "When was the last time you ate?" I freeze and bite my lip.

"Couple days ago?" I say, unsure. I look up and see him scowling. I quickly rise up on my toes and give him a fast hug. "Don't tell Mum." I add before jumping onto the train. Dashing into an empty compartment, I slam the door and sink low in my seat as a sick feeling gurgles in my stomach.


	2. Chapter 2

"Rose?" I come back to reality with a jolt and see my brother and cousin Lily staring at me worriedly.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"You gonna come sit with us up front?" Lily asks. I shake my head.

"Nah, I'm gonna catch up on sleep, Lils." I say. She nods and leaves, calling after Hugo who motions for her to go on ahead.

"Rosie?" Hugo says gently. I look up at him.

"What, Hugo?" I ask blankly, hiding all emotion.

"What happened to you?" he asks in awe. I stare at my younger brother, slightly hurt. "You were so happy when we were kids. Then Mum and Dad separated and you got a little less happy. Then you go off to Hogwarts and get a little more less happy. Fast forward four, almost five years, and you're completely unhappy. What happened?" he asks. Anger bubbles up inside me.

"What happened to me? Reality happened, Hue!" I snap. "I was this delusional little ten year old who wanted to be Mummy's perfect little girl and Daddy's princess. Then they split and we split too! You're Mum's little play thing now, Hugo. Ravenclaw Prince, highest grades since Mum was at Hogwarts, perfect gentleman. You really need a reality check if you think I've changed, little brother, because you never really knew me if you think that I've changed.

"I didn't fucking change- I grew the hell up!" I cry, jumping up and storming out of the compartment. Tears well up in my eyes and I make my way towards the Head's compartment. Wiping my eyes furiously, I burst in and sit in the empty compartment as a few tears escape.

"Rosalie?" my head jerks up and I see one person I really don't want to see right now- Scorpius Malfoy.

"I go by Rose, Scorpius." I say, ducking my head and wiping at my eyes. "What're you doing here?" he sits on the seat across from me as I stare out the window to see Hogwarts in the distance.

"I'm Head Boy." He says arrogantly. I let out a groan. It's not that I don't like Scorpius- I think he's an okay guy. But whenever he gets the chance, he loves to humiliate me. "Why are you here?"

"I'm Head Girl." I mutter. Scorpius lets out a chuckle.

"So we get to live together for the year?" he asks, obviously already knowing the answer. But then it hits me. _I have to live with Malfoy. For the whole year. Mother fucking shit in Merlin's pants! _

My head shoots up and I don't have the energy to throw up a mask to hide my emotions as numbness engulfs me and my mind goes blank…

**Scorpius' POV**

"So we get to live together for the year?" I ask, already knowing the answer. I watch as Rose's face goes blank and she stares out the window. Her sleek, maroon colored hair falls in her pale face as she disappears deeper into what I suspect is a labyrinth like mind. I can't help but wonder about her sometimes- she's quite intriguing.

I mean, she's beautiful, for one thing. Deep, ocean blue eyes that stare into your soul but somehow stay completely void of emotion. Small, softly crafted nose sprinkled with freckles, plump, pale pink lips. She's small, maybe only 5'1, and rather thin and unlike other Weasleys, I've barely seen her eat. And she's so quiet, something I didn't think possible for a child of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who did nothing but argue loudly, seeing as how her know- it- all younger brother can't keep his opinion to himself. Plus, surprisingly, she's a Slytherin.

In the dungeons after curfew, in the wee hours of the morning when she thought no one else was there, she'd sit there and talk to herself. She was very quiet, I could almost never hear her if I managed to spy her in there, but she'd talk to herself for hours. She seemed quite lonely and isolated in Slytherin, I doubt she had any friends. I actually felt sorry for her about that.

I was quite fascinated by Rosalie Weasley, some may say I even fancy her, but she'd never go for me. I was awful to her. I'd tease her about her uniform choice, always wearing long sleeves, and tell her how queer she looked, writing faster than humanly possible in that stupid notebook she always carried around. I'm pretty sure I've made her cry a couple times when we were younger, but she's never cried in front of me. I have to admit I feel guilty about that.

Rose's head shoots up and she wears a heartbreaking face. There's pain and fear and hopelessness shining in her eyes. "Rose?" I say softly- after knowing her for almost seven years, I know that she doesn't react well to loud voices. She doesn't respond. "Rosalie?" I try again. Nothing. I know something's off.

"Rose, it's me, Scorpius Malfoy." I say, holding her shoulders as we pull into the Hogsmade station. "Rose, snap out of it." I try. I hear people coming towards the compartment. I let go of her and her face remains blank as a tall girl with dark-ish skin and auburn hair bangs into the compartment. She looks at me flirtatiously, and then her eyes land on Rose and she rolls her eyes. Hands on her hips, she screeches.

"Rosalie Molly Weasley, get your dumb ass back to the real world this instant." she cries harshly in a voice that doesn't seem to fit her at all. Rose jumps slightly, a wall seeming to go up in her mind as emotion vacates her eyes.

"Why don't you go fuck a-" she stops when she sees the girl. Her face darkens and she scowls. "What the bloody hell, Roxanne!" she exclaims. Roxanne- _her cousin._ I think dumbly. Roxanne just shrugs, patting her small cousin on the head and skipping away. Rose shouts something I can't quite understand and sparks shoot out of her wand after her cousin.

She turns to me with a glare. "What're you looking at, Malfoy?" she spits, leaving the compartment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Rose's POV**

"Rosalie Molly Weasley, get your dumb ass back to the real world this instant!" My mother shrieked, pulling me from my mental comatose. My anger bubbled inside of me.

"Why don't you go fuck a-" I start to yell, only for my eyes to land on Roxanne, my cousin. "What the bloody hell, Roxanne!" I cry. She shrugs, patting my head and leaving the compartment. I whip out my wand- 12 ½ inch Yew with Dragon Heartstring core- and mutter a few swear words in French and out come red sparks that whizz off to shock my annoying cousin. Feeling eyes on me, I turn slowly to see that Scorpius is still in the compartment, staring at me with his beautiful grayish green eyes. Mentally slapping myself, I shoot him a glare.

"What're you looking at, Malfoy?" I spit, before storming out of the compartment.

Hurriedly, I pull my Head Girl badge out of my pocket and pin it on my shirt before rushing to help the first years over to Hagrid, who waits in front of his army of self maneuvering boats. "First years, follow me!" I yell, leading the kids to the half giant grounds keeper.

"Rose, nice to see you again!" Hagrid cries as we Scorpius arrives to help kids into the boats. "Tea in my hut, Saturday?" he asks. I shrug and blow a strand of my maroon- ish hair out of my eyes.

"Sure, Hagrid." I say. He smiles.

"So, how was your summer?" he asks me. I make a disgusted noise.

"Horrible. Hugo ratted me out to Hermione and she forced me to stay at their house while Dad's on assignment in Ireland." I say. I only call Hermione Mum around Hugo because otherwise he'll go into this big statistical rant about how she's still my mum even if she and Dad aren't married and she loves me and blah blah blah. And, since I really want to hex him every time he goes all Ravenclaw Prince of Smartasses on me, I call her Mum when he's around. Hagrid scowls at me.

"Oh, come on, Rosie, your mum isn't that bad." He sighs gruffly. I give him an irritated look.

"She is when you're the complete disappointment of a daughter that I am, Hagrid." I sigh, getting into the last boat with Scorpius. Hagrid opens his mouth to say more then thinks better of it and just gives me an exasperated look before climbing into his boat and we set off. I plug in my head phones and intend to drown out my disturbing thoughts with some Muggle music but Scorpius taps my shoulder. I flinch away and turn my head to look at him.

I can't help but be at least a little intrigued by Scorpius. He's got white- blonde hair that falls shaggily around his face. Then he's got these eyes that are like the color of grass right after a long winter- green, but just barely- and a long nose that fits him perfectly, along with pale lips. His skin is almost as pale as my own, but his is most definitely free of scars like mine. He's really tall- 6'9 probably. And he's so gentle and quiet around me, like he knows that I can't handle harshness. Sometimes I wonder why he's in Gryffindor, he seems like a Ravenclaw all the way- then again, so do I, but I begged the hat to put me anywhere but Ravenclaw- so I wonder if he did the same or the hat truly believed he was a Gryffindor at heart.

Sometimes when I was doing my Prefect rounds, I'd see find him in the Astronomy Tower, just staring at the sky. A couple times he'd brought a guitar and played while writing out lyrics. I found it enchanting, though it was obvious his songs were for someone dear to him, and I knew I wouldn't be cared about like that. I wonder if he cares at all that I'm the only Weasley- Potter child that doesn't hold his family against him. Albus, James, Hugo, and even Fred always bullied him about it until I told Uncle Harry, Uncle George, and Hermione.

Scorpius was quite interesting to observe- and wallflowers like myself love to observe- but I don't fancy him. Maybe we'd have had a chance, if my life wasn't hell and he didn't take every opportunity he could to humiliate and hurt me. I didn't even defend myself anymore from his insults, I was too numb and too close to the end to care. Sure, he'd upset me, but I just used his bullying as influence for my poetry and stories- maybe I'd mention it in my suicide letter.

"What?" I ask my voice almost too quiet to hear.

"What kind of music do you listen to?" he asks, his voice barely louder than my own.

"The Muggle kind." I say blankly, pressing play and sticking one ear bud in so I can listen to music but converse with him if I have to. Next to me, Scorpius chuckles.

"Care to elaborate?" he asks. I quirk my lips to the side for a moment- a habit for when I think.

"Anything with true feeling or strong emotion. Ed Sheeran is my favorite probably." I say after a moment. Hogwarts looms into sight and there's a chorus of Ooh's and Aah's from the first years around us. Scorpius stares at me with his beautiful greenish eyes until I am absolutely unnerved. "Take a picture, it'll last longer." I sigh with irritation in my voice, putting in my other ear bud and turning up the volume as A Team blasts my ear drums.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Scorpius furrow his brow and sit in deep thought for a few moments before pulling out a deep blue spiral notebook and a quill, then begin writing in illegible furry- _and he thinks I'm weird about my writing_ I think sourly as the boats begin to arrive at the school. Scowling slightly, I nudge Scorpius and get out of our boat, starting to lead children towards the castle…

"Are you seriously _done_ Rose?" Albus asks me as we sit and the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. I break out of my deep trance to scowl at my cousin.

"Yes, Albus, I'm _done_. Not all of us need to eat fifty pounds of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner." I snap. Contrary to the popular hope of the family, Albus and I are not close at all anymore. I can't stand or trust him and he's always breathing down my neck and threatening to tell Hermione about his suspicions of my slow deterioration if I don't eat half as much as he does or if I look ill but brush it off as I often do. He's been like that ever since my parents divorced and it drives me mad.

"Damit, Rose, you're so fucking anorexic it's gross to look at you." He says hatefully. I feel like I've been slapped- he's never called me anorexic before, at least not to my face. "You need to eat some food, even if I have to force you to. This isn't good for you Rose, if you don't put on some weight, I'll tell your mum." He threatens loudly. I feel one set of greenish eyes on me but I can't handle myself enough right now as tears of hurt and frustration well up in my eyes.

"Albus Severus Potter, don't you dare talk to me like that! We may not be close, you may love to talk down to me and hate on me, but I am still your family! Don't you dare threaten me with Hermione, don't you dare speak to me like I am a worthless piece of shit, and don't you dare call me anorexic! I am so bloody fucking sick of you thinking you know best for me! You don't, so just leave me the hell alone!" I say in a loud voice- but not loud enough to be "shouting"- tears streaming down my cheeks as I slap him and rush out of the hall. Blindly, I make my way to the tower where the Head Boy and Head Girl live every year.

I bang on the door forcefully. "Toad spit!" I cry through tears as I hear someone coming down the corridor. The door swings open and I rush in, slamming it behind me. I let out a strangled scream and stumble up to my room, locking the door and searching for the little box hidden in the lining of my trunk. Finding it, I lift the lid off and pull out one thin blade. A sob escapes me as I slash at skin on my thigh. I feel blood trickle down my leg and a choking sound leaves my throat.

_I'm so fucked up…_

**Scorpius's POV**

Rose ran from the Great Hall in tears. I felt my heart crack. I look over to where she'd been sitting and I see Albus Potter arguing with a tall, lanky boy with a shaggy brown hair and a freckled face- _Hugo Weasley._ A small, bright red hand print stands out on Albus's skin and I realize that Rose must've slapped him.

I rise from my seat and walk over to the two as they continue to argue. "Albus." I say forcefully. He and Hugo go silent as Albus whirls around to face me with a sneer.

"What d'you want Malfoy?" he asks, spitting my surname out like a bad piece of meat.

"What'd you say to Rose?" I ask, trying to hide my anger. I may not have a chance with the girl, but I still care about her deeply. Albus reddens.

"None of your business. And why do you care?" he snarls. I feel my temper rising.

"Are you kidding me? She just ran out of here _in tears!_ I care because she's in tears." I say angrily. He smirks at me.

"You fancy Rosie, don't you, Malfoy?" he smirks. I feel a slight blush creeping onto my face.

"Never, Potter. But seeing as how I have to live with the girl, I'd rather not have to deal with her sobbing, so don't make her cry again." I snap arrogantly, hoping to hide my embarrassment.

Then, I rush up to the Heads tower just as Rose shrieks the password while obviously still crying. Worriedly, I burst into the tower and dash up to her room. The door is locked and I hear a choked sob escape her from the other side.

"Rose?" I call through the door.

"Go away, Scorpius!" she shouts.

"No." I say.

"Please, just go away." Comes her muffled plea.

"Not until I know you're okay. Please, just open the door."

"Why do you care?" she asks, footsteps coming towards the door.

"Why shouldn't I?" I ask, just talking, not shouting now.

There's a heavy click and the door opens a little. Two red rimmed blue eyes and a tear stained face greet me. I feel a stab of pain as I look at her hurt face. "I'm okay, Scorpius." She says in her whisper like voice. I just stare at her. She gives me a very weak attempt at a smile and closes the door, locking it too. I sigh and go to my room, sinking down into the mattress on the bed.

And instead of the sleep I hoped for, I sit up all night, the sound of Rose's occasional sob stabbing my heart like a knife. So, until the sun rises, I sit on my window sill and write a new song, one that I hope has true feeling and strong emotion.


	4. Chapter 4

**Rose's POV**

Three weeks past and I could feel my own deterioration as August arrived. I probably only ate half of one meal a day, and what little food I kept down didn't make my stomach feel too great.

When I woke up on the first Monday in August, I felt so sick; I knew I'd collapse if I stood. This was very, very bad. I tried to sit up in bed and ended up throwing up what little food I had eaten last night. My stomach contorted painfully and I let out a cry of pain. I heard footsteps coming towards my room and someone knocked on the door.

"Rose? Are you okay?" he calls. _He's sweet. _I think before dry heaving towards the floor. "I'm coming in." he declares, pushing the door open quickly. If I hadn't felt so sick, I probably would've swooned at the sight of the shirtless Quidditch player before me. His eyes landed on me and he rushed over.

"Oh, God Rosie! Are you alright?" he asks, avoiding the vomit on the floor and coming over to my bedside. I scowl at him weakly and he places his hand to my head, quickly pulling it away. "Damn, you're burning up, can you get up? We need to take you to Madam Pomfrey." He exclaims. I nod once, and he helps me get out of bed, but as soon as I stand up I bend over and dry heave again. "Fuck." Scorpius mutters.

Before I can process what's going on, he scoops me up into his arms and begins carrying me out of the tower bridal style. I let out a weak groan and burry my face in his neck, too sick to care about embarrassment at the moment. I'm dimly aware of someone shouting my name at the far end of the corridor and I look up at Scorpius.

"Scorpius, hold on a sec." I murmur, trying to see over his shoulder. Sure enough, Hugo is rushing towards us in a blue button down shirt and jeans with his glassed sitting crookedly on his face. Scorpius stops and turns to see what I'm looking at and an irritated noise comes out of his mouth.

"Malfoy, what the bloody hell are you doing with my sister?" Hugo barks.

"She's sick, Weasley. She can't walk, so I'm carrying her to the Hospital Wing." Scorpius says quickly. Hugo's emotions flash over his face as I try to read them in my pitiful state. Confusion, anger, sympathy, finally he reaches out to take me from Scorpius but I make a noise in the back of my throat and he stops. Taking a shaky breath I look up weakly at my brother.

"Owl Uncle Harry." I say quietly. Hermione always gets pissed when I get sent to the Hospital Wing or in trouble and she's the one that has to come to Hogwarts because Dad's on assignment because it drags her away from her precious job at the M. o. M., so I call on Uncle Harry instead. Hugo furrows his brow, then nods and turns and starts off towards the owlry. As Scorpius heads towards the Hospital Wing once more, I sit up slightly in his arms and see Hugo looking back at me.

"Don't tell Mum!" I call, before my eye lids droop and I blank out.

**Scorpius's POV**

When I got Rose to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey bombarded me with questions that I couldn't answer. Clearly agitated with me, she bobbles off to get some medicine for Rose while I take a seat next to the bed Rose is in. As I sit there, I finally get a good look at Rose.

Her maroon hair flairs out on the pillow, her skin drained of any color at all. She's still in the tee shirt and sweat pants she wore to bed, but one pant leg has ridden up, revealing places where skin is a different shade then the rest. Before I can let my curiosity get the better of me and investigate that, Madam Pomfrey returns, levitating multiple bottles of medication in front of her. She shoes me out of the Hospital Wing and as I make my way back to the Head's Tower, I run into Hugo, who runs right past me while muttering hostilely under his breath.

Making it back to my room, I dress in a white button down, black jeans, and a Gryffindor tie. Grabbing my book bag, I then dash to potions…

I couldn't focus the whole day. My mind kept wondering back to Rose. I really wanted to go sit with her in the Hospital Wing. When I finally got out of my last class of the day- Ancient Runes- I practically ran to the Hospital Wing. I don't really understand why I was feeling like this, but I felt like my heart would give out if Rose was hurt at all.

When I got there, I saw that there were curtains around Rose's bed and Madam Pomfrey was speaking to a tall wizard with messy black hair.

"This is very serious, Mr. Potter. We cannot let this go by without notifying her parents." Madam Pomfrey says in a rushed quiet tone. Mr. Potter- he must be Rose's uncle.

"I know, I know. But you can't tell them just yet. Rose's mother isn't- well let's just say their relationship isn't a healthy one. She and Rose's father are separated; her father has custody over her. Just wait until he comes back from Ireland next month- then we'll tell him. Alright?" he answers agitatedly. Madam Pomfrey scowls but nods and rushes off as a Ravenclaw chaser comes in with blood pouring from his nose. I hear the curtain being pulled back slightly as Mr. Potter goes in and sits next to Rose.

Sighing, I step in and see Rose asleep just as I left her earlier, with Mr. Potter sitting next to her. He turns and sees me. "Can I help you, young man?" he asks.

"I just came in to check on Rose, sir." I say nervously. Furrowing his brow, he looks at me for a few moments.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"Scorpius Malfoy, sir." I say, my courage diminishing.

"Are you a friend of Rose?" I shake my head.

"No sir, in fact, I've been quite the opposite of a friend to her over the years." I say truthfully. Mr. Potter gives me a knowing look.

"Then why are you here?" he asks with a hint of a smirk. I feel my face turn red.

"I- I'm not entirely sure. I just knew I had to see her." I say quietly. Mr. Potter gives me a smile. He looks like he'll say more, but just then a startled noise comes from Rose and we both shoot our attention towards her. She bolted up on the bed, her maroon bangs falling in her face as her breathing became slightly labored. Mr. Potter stands and puts a gentle hand on Rose's shoulder.

"Rosie?" he says in a gentle voice. Her blue eyes flit to him for a second before staring off into space again. "Rose, we need to talk." Her uncle says in a serious voice. She shakes her head and draws her knees up to her chest, wrapping her bony arms around them. She responds vaguely.

"Not you." She says in her whisper like voice. Mr. Potter furrows his brow.

"What do you mean, Rose?" he asks. A hard, almost pained look falls on her face.

"I am not talking about it. Not with you." She says sternly.

"Why not?" She closes her eyes and lets out a shuttering breath. Mr. Potter sits on the side of her bed and hesitantly places a hand on her shoulder. Rose squeaks and flinches from his touch. "Rose, it's either me, Hermione, or your dad. You choose." He says sternly. Rose shakes her head rapidly.

"No, Uncle Harry. Just no. It's my life, my business, my problem." she answers in a strained voice. "And it's not me you should be worrying about." She mutters. Mr. Potter scowls, then gets up and exits the curtained area, pulling me with him. Right outside the infirmary, he stops and looks at me with hard, green eyes.

"Scorpius. You obviously have a thing for my niece. Well, I am going to tell you right now to stay the bloody hell away from her. She's hurt, she's damaged, and she's a broken little girl. The last thing Rose needs is a pompous jerk that'll only end up breaking her heart." He says sternly. "You have no idea what she's gone through, and what is wrong with her. So just stay away from her or I will personally make sure you die a slow and painful death- understood?"

I swallow hard and nod. His gaze softens ever so slightly as he claps me on the shoulder and walks off. I stand there in the corridor for what seems like ages when my mind finally kicks in again and I snap back to reality. Now, all I have are questions that all sprout from one-

_What is wrong with Rose Weasley?_

I burst into the Heads' tower and immediately head to Rose's room. The door stands ajar, so I walk right in. The house elves have obviously cleaned the vomit from earlier, but there's no other sign of anything being touched. Walking over to her desk, I feel slightly like a creeper or something.

_Why shouldn't you, you're only going through a girl's stuff while she's not here._ The voice in the back of my head sneers. Ignoring it, I shuffle through the multiple pieces of parchment until one catches my eye. It's written with different colors of ink, as if Rose had worked on it at different times with different bottles of ink. I try to read it, but her hand writing is completely illegible- except for the last two words, written in green ink.

_Scorpius Malfoy_.

She's writing something that has to do with me. Without a second thought, I shove the parchment in my pocket. Deciding I should stop being a creeper for the time being, I leave her room and make my way to my own, closing the heavy door behind me.

Now to decipher Rose's handwriting…

**Rose's POV**

After arguing with Madam Pomfrey for the better part of two hours, I was finally allowed to leave the Hospital Wing and return to my dormitory. When I got there, something seemed off. Walking in slowly, I snatch my wand from the nightstand and grip it tightly as I examine the room. My stash is still safely hidden in the lining of my trunk- thank goodness. None of my notebooks are disturbed.

I scratch my head with the tip of my wand when it hits me- the suicide note. I dash to my desk and tear through all of my unfinished poems and doodles that lay all over my desk top.

_No, no, no, no no no! This is bad, really, really bad! Damit! _

It's gone. Mother fucking shit in Merlin's pants! It's _gone._ "Damit!" I scream, swiping all the papers from my desk in rage. My eyes burn. "Stupid, stupid, _stupid!_" I cry. I feel my knees give out and I end up with my back against the desk and my head in my hands.

This is not good…


	5. Chapter 5

**I just wanted to apologize that I haven't updated in soooo long! I've been kinda busy with school (Math, mostly, blech) and being sick and being in a wedding.(Also, BTW I realized the other day I made a mistake in an earlier chapter, so sorry! Rose is not in Gryffindor, but Slytherin! Again, I apologize, but the mistake has been FIXED!) But fear not, readers! I have finally finished and uploaded this chapter! So, please:**

**Read on...**

* * *

_I hear people usually start these things off by saying "I'm sorry." And I think that would be a rather stupid thing for me to do, because I am __**not**__ sorry. In fact, I am very, very dead- so it is truly impossible for me to be anything- including sorry. _

_ When someone finds me- I pity the poor soul who does- I want you all to know just why I did this to myself. But first, let me address all those who drove me to it, and all those who must suffer._

_ I seemed perfectly happy, didn't I, Hermione? Hugo? I don't even think that you knew, Daddy. Uncle Harry, you found out, but you respected my wishes and kept it a secret. _

_Albus, you were always so in love with the idea of being perfect and having the perfect family- which included me, sadly- that you were completely blind to everything going wrong with your once best friend, except when I lost weight dramatically. Lily, dear, I was never close to you, and for that I __**am**__ sorry. I feel like we could have been friends. James, when you hear of this, please do not go on a rampage- I do indeed doubt you loved me enough to actually do it (as you most definitely would if this were Lily and not me) but I felt I still had to ask. _

_Hugo, don't you fucking dare write a book about this- or a novel, a brochure, __**do not **__document this in any possible way. It is still my life, (ha) even though I am no longer living. If there is one thing about me you respected when I was alive, it was my privacy. Please continue that. Hermione, you can go rot in the Azkaban in Hell for all I care. Blame yourself, die an old, unhappy woman who retired from the Ministry of Magic only when she died. I hate you. I have told you that for as long as I have been able to, but maybe now you will take me seriously._

_Uncle Harry, Thank you for keeping my secret. Please do not blame yourself. I doubt you saw this coming. _

_Daddy, I think you are the only one I should be apologizing to. __**I'm sorry, Daddy. **__I lied to you. I kept secrets from you. I let you love me. I let you care for me. I let myself become your little girl. And now I've killed myself. I'm so, so, so sorry. But I will only apologize to you._

_Scorpius Malfoy, ha, I can imagine your shock at being mentioned in my suicide note. Well, here's your name. In green ink- green is the color of the house you abandoned. I am not_

That's where it stopped. What?

I was reading the parchment I found in Rose's room, and I was completely shocked. _This is her suicide note. _I think to myself. _Why is she writing a suicide note? _ Scowling, I try to think, but nothing about Rose comes to mind. I sigh and walk over to my pensieve. Inside memories swirled a rainbow. Soon, I found the flash of maroon I was hoping for and was thrown into a memory…

* * *

"_Can I sit here?" a voice asks. I look up and sigh slightly. A girl stands in the door way timidly, hair falling in her face. _

"_I suppose." I answer her. She mutters a faint "Thanks" and sits down._

"_I'm Scorpius Malfoy, if you didn't already know." I sneer. _

"_I knew." Rose mutters. Then she looks up from her lap. "I'm Rosalie Weasley, but I go by Rose." She says with a slightly chipper voice. _

"_I know who you are, the hair and freckles gave you away." Wearily, I glance at Rose. She frowns slightly and pushes a lock of maroon hair behind her ear._

"_Well, I guess I favor the Weasley side, thank God." She says, mumbling the last part._

"_Why are you happy about that?" I ask, in shock. Rose scowls at me._

"_That is none of your business, Scorpius." She says seriously. Suddenly, the door bangs open to reveal Albus Potter. _

"_Rose, what are you doing in here?" he snaps. She shrugs._

"_Sitting…" she answers with a flat voice._

"_You know who that is, don't you?" he asks. She nods._

"_Yeah, it's Scorpius. And he's right there y'know, quit talking about him like he's not." She says defensively. Albus rolls his eyes at her and grabs her arm harshly._

"_He's a_ _Malfoy_, _Rose! Uncle Ron would kill you if he heard you'd been sitting with one!" Albus exclaims. He pulls Rose from the compartment as she starts swearing at him…_

* * *

_Sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, I look to Professor McGonagall. She holds a long piece of parchment and looks out upon the line of first years. _

"_Weasley, Rosalie." She calls. You can hear a pin drop in the silence that has fallen over the hall. The small crowd of first years parts and a small maroon haired girl walks up to where we stand. She sits on the stool and the professor places the old, patched, and slightly burned hat on her head. It falls over her eyes and her knuckles turn white as she grips the edges of the stool. _

"_Slytherin!" it bellows. Rose lets out a sigh of relief and returns the hat before hurrying over to the Slytherin table…_

* * *

_There's a loud thud and books and parchment scatter across the floor. _

"_Oops. Sorry, Weasley. I guess I didn't see you there." I sneer. Her cousin Albus snickered behind me. Rose's blue eyes fill with disappointment as she looks at me. Shaking her head, she waves her wand and collects her things._

"_You aren't sorry, Scorpius, so just save it. And you did see me; you're just too much of a douche to be polite to me for once in your goddamn life." She spat, scowling up at me. I lean in and get really close to her face._

"_That's because, you don't deserve it." I say with a deadly serious voice. A wall seems to go up and her eyes are emotionless. Rose simply shakes her head and walks off towards her next class…_

* * *

_A scream echoes through the hall way, followed by the loud sound of a smack. Rushing towards the noise, I peek around a corner to see the Granger- Weasley children. Rose has her back to me, but her form is trembling insanely. Hugo glares daggers down towards his older sister and wears a smirk. Rose stamps her foot._

"_Hugo Billus Granger, how could you?!" Rose screams with a shaking voice. He rolls his eyes._

"_It was easy"- he sighs, raising his hand and smacking her across the face. "See, I just did it again!" he sneers with fake enthusiasm. My insides churn with anger; suddenly I want to hex the life out of Hugo Granger for hitting Rose like that. _

"_You're almost as bad as Hermione!" she cries, stumbling back and clutching her jaw._

"_Well at least I'm not the girl who decided to disgrace her family!" he yells, hitting her again and causing her to fall to the floor before stalking off. I send a silent hex his way and rush to Rose. _

"_Are you okay, Rose?" I ask, taking her arm gently and pulling her to her feet. She glances at me and roughly pulls away from my grasp._

"_I'm fine, _Malfoy_." She says angrily. Then her expression softens slightly. "Don't tell anyone about this, please?" she asks. I scowl._

"_Rose, your douche of a brother just"- she cuts me off._

"_I know bloody well what the fuck he just did, Scorpius. Just promise me that you won't tell anyone." She says with a pained and upset tone. My heart aches. _

"_I don't think"-_

"_Promise me, Scorpius." She pleas. I sigh._

"_I promise." I whisper. I look at Rose and she shifts slightly, like she's about to do something, then stops herself and shakes her head. Without another glance, she runs off towards the dungeons._

* * *

"_Y'know what I just heard about a certain little Slytherin Ginger?" My friend Hal smirked when he found me in the Gryffindor common room. I give him a wary look. _

"_What, did you hear, Hal?"I sigh, knowing he'll tell me either way. He gives a chuckle and crosses his arms, leaning against the wall._

"_Well apparently, little miss nobody is insane." He smirks. Trying to hide the angry feeling I got when he refers to Rose as "little miss nobody" I raise an eyebrow at Hal. So, he continues. "She's almost never in the dorms, according to Silvia"- referring to his girl of the week. "And she talks to the Bloody Baron. Like, she has legit conversations with him! And there've been a couple times where she's just randomly run out of classes or the Great Hall, or even the dorms in the middle of the night- supposedly screaming or talking to herself._

_That Weasley, she's a nut case. I'm surprised Hugo hasn't petitioned to have her locked up yet. She's a danger to us all, I bet, Scorp"- I cut him off when my fist connects with his stomach. Hal gasps for breath as he doubles over in pain._

"_Do not talk about her like that. You have no idea what's up with her, you little git." I growl, stalking off…_

* * *

I sit up on the floor of my room and run a hand through my hair. _No wonder I'm in that note._ I think to myself bitterly. Suddenly, I hear a loud crash from Rose's room across the hall. Silently, I grab my wand and creep over to her room, pressing my ear to the door.

"_Stupid, stupid, stupid!_" she cries. Another crash makes me cringe back from the door. Nervously, I knock on the wooden surface.

"Rose?" I call. I can hear her swear from inside her room.

"Scorpius, I am not in the fucking mood to deal with you, so go ruin somebody else's life for a while. Okay?" she yells. _Ouch._

"God, Rose, I just wanna see if you're okay, why the fuck is that so hard for you to get?" I cry angrily. There's a loud _crack!_ and the door swings open. Rose stands in the middle of her room with her wand raised. Her hair falls in her face like usual and she looks particularly small in the large tee shirt and baggy sweats hanging onto her small, bony frame. My eyes lock on her beautiful blue ones and my heart sinks. They're as blank and empty as a new piece of parchment.

She lowers her wand and crosses her bony arms. "Why on Earth would you suddenly give a damn if I was okay or not?" she asks, her quiet voice trembling slightly. I take a step towards her and lower my head.

"Maybe this isn't the first time I've given a damn." I say so softly I doubt she hears me. But she does.

"Like I believe that bull shit." She snaps bitterly and I wince at the harshness of her words. I glance up at her and see her face is set in a scowl, but her eyes are full of confusion- or maybe that's a bit of hope. Hesitantly, I take another step towards her.

**Rose's POV**

_Why would he care? Why now?_ I ask myself. I look at him, the slightest hope fighting through my utter confusion. _This makes absolutely no fucking sense! _I mentally scream as he takes a hesitant step forward, almost afraid of my reaction. But I remain stock still, with my feet planted firmly to the cold stone floor. _Why _him_? _

"It's the truth." He says blankly. I stare at him, trying to make sense of all this. Shaking my head, I look away from his amazingly greenish grey eyes.

"No, Scorpius." I say with my voice hard and blank of emotion. "It is most definitely _not_ the truth. The truth is that you are an arrogant arse that takes pleasure in screwing around with my emotions and humiliating me." I look up and see hurt and regret on his face, plain as day. _It's the truth._ I think sadly as he stares at me. Slowly, he shakes his head.

"I'm not like that anymore, Rose." He starts. I scoff and he sighs sadly. "I guess I'll just have to change your mind." He mutters.

I roll my eyes. "Good luck with that." I say sarcastically, biting back a small smile when I see a lopsided smile grace his face for a moment. Before either of us says anything more, a loud pounding on the door down stairs brings us back to reality.

"You can get it." I smirk.


	6. Chapter 6

**WARNING: This chapter contains content that may be upsetting to some readers. If you are disturbed by characters harming themselves, I highly suggest you skip this chapter!**

**Scorpius's POV**

I exited Rose's room to answer the door with questions swirling around my mind. As I opened the heavy wooden door, six wide eyes landed at me. Albus Severus Potter, Hugo Billus Granger, and Lillian Luna Potter stood before me, their eyes an array of emotions from resentment to worry, to confusion. I stood with my feet rooted to the stone floor, staring blankly at the trio of Rose's relatives before me.

_Albus, you were always so in love with the idea of being perfect…you were completely blind to everything going wrong with your once best friend…_

_Lily, dear, I was never close to you…I feel like we could have been friends._

_Hugo, don't you fucking dare write a book about this… If there is one thing about me you respected when I was alive, it was my privacy.__ Please continue that._

Bits and pieces of Rose's suicide note echo in my mind. _Do they know? _I wonder. _Do they know what's wrong with her?_ Footsteps on the stairs bring me out of my thoughts. Rose takes in a sharp breath from behind me and Lily Potter's pale blue eyes widen. The short girl pushes past me roughly and rushes over to Rose.

The two girls stand an arm's length away from each other, staring. Lily stood over Rose by three or four inches. Her hair was more like the Weasley red than Rose's maroon hair. Her skin was tanner and more freckled and her eyes were more of a sky blue than Rose's own sapphire like eyes. These two cousins, both with half of each other's DNA, could not look less alike, yet as much alike as they did.

As I continued to stare at them, one thought appeared in my head. _Does anyone really know her? _I have no idea where the question came from, but I can see the wonder in Lily's eyes as she stares at her cousin- it's almost as if she's never seen Rose before. Suddenly more thoughts are triggered and images flood my mind.

Rose staying behind, alone in the Slytherin Dungeons for the Christmas holidays when we were First Years. Hugo keeping Lily away from Rose after an accident at Quidditch practice for Slytherin in our Third year when Rose was almost killed by a bludger that hit her in the head. Hermione Granger violently shaking a fourteen year old Rose as she yelled at her in what she thought was an empty corridor. Ronald Weasley hugging his sobbing daughter after I had verbally attacked her in Hogsmade last year.

I had the answer to my question. I turned to Albus and Hugo to see their eyes wide and trained on Rose and Lily. The younger girl suddenly reaches out and hugs Rose tightly. Rose makes no move to hug her cousin back, instead she stiffens and her eyes dart around the room with fright. Hugo and Albus quickly shove me aside and pull Lily away from Rose.

Rose doubles over with her eyes shut and her small hands clutching her sides as her breaths come out shallow and short. I move to her side quickly, bending down to try and get her to look at me.

"Look at me, Rose. Rose, c'mon, I need you to look at me." I plead. She shakes her head and continues to hyperventilate. "Rosalie," I say with a softer tone. "Rosalie, please look at me." Two dark, jewel like eyes lock with mine. She slowly calms down and stands up, pushing me away from her.

**Rose's POV**

"What do you want?" I snap at the three people who stand before me. Albus's green eyes scowl at me from behind his glasses. Hugo glares daggers at me with his brown orbs. And Lily… I cannot even begin to read the young girl I have never been allowed to know. Though I was close with my uncle, her father, I was never particularly sociable with his children. James was the perfect child, the pride of the Potter family- I avoided him. Albus had once been my best friend, but after my parents' divorce he no longer seemed to care about anything I had to say and only about how I made him look. Lily was a curious and beautiful child who I longed to know when I was younger but Albus and Hugo made it virtually impossible for us to get close.

"We wanted to check up on you, Rose. Everyone knows that you were in the Infirmary this morning. Dad even came, and he doesn't just drop everything and come in to Hogwarts if someone's got the sniffles." Albus says smartly.

"Bullocks." I hiss. Albus looks at me with a bewildered expression.

"Rosie"-

"Shut it!" I snap, cutting him off. "You didn't care about me when I was in a coma for half a month when we were twelve, you didn't care when I was almost _killed_ by a bludger at Quidditch practice, and you sure as hell didn't care when I almost bled to death in Ireland when we were fifteen!" I all but scream at him. Scorpius stiffens next to me but I couldn't care less about him at the moment. I move until I'm standing right in front of my cousin.

"So why should I believe that you care now." I say in a deadly calm tone. Albus stares at me with wide eyes, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. A hand suddenly clamps on my shoulder and throws me back. My back impacts with the stone floor and I gasp as the air is knocked out of me.

"_Hugo! What the hell?"_ Lily shrills. She tries to come over to me but Albus holds her back. "Albus Severus Potter if you don't let go of me right now I'll"-

"Shut up, Lillian!" Hugo growls. Lily immediately silenced and stopped struggling with her older brother, frightened by my sibling's tone. He turns and looks down at me.

"Rose. I know what you do to yourself. You know what you do to yourself. I'm pretty sure Lover Boy over here"- he gestures to Scorpius, "might know what you do to yourself. So you can stop playing the role of Little Miss Innocent. You've _pushed _us away, me and Al. And you forced us to keep Lily from you. We didn't want your- echem- _problems_ affecting a sweet little girl like her." Hugo hissed in an almost taunting tone. It was a tone that simply implied an _I am above you; you are worthless _attitude and mindset. The tone itself was very familiar too me.

Because it was the tone Hermione used with me when we had a "disagreement". I felt like I'd just been slapped. Sure, Hugo was an arse. Sure, he hit me constantly. But he _never_ talked to me like our mother did. He never talked to me like I was worthless. I felt tears in my eyes as I stared at my brother.

"Get out!" I scream, trying to get up. Hugo looks taken aback by my sudden outburst.

"Excuse me, Rose?" he asks. I unsteadily rise and shove my little brother backwards.

"Get the bloody hell out of here! You're just like Hermione! Thinking you can push me around and treat me like shit! You're exactly like her, you stupid Ravenclaw Prince!" I scream, my small fists pounding on his chest. Shocked, he stumbles back out of the door. I whirl around and dig my nails into Albus's arm, dragging him and Lily roughly out into the hall.

"Go to hell, little brother!" I cry, slamming the door. Turning around, I see Scorpius staring at me with admiration in his grayish green eyes. The tears I'd held back during my little fit came out now as I stared up at him. In two strides he was in front of me, his large, calloused hand cupping my cheek as his thumb brushed away my tears. I bit my trembling bottom lip as he continued to stare at me. His eyes were shining with pain, sincerity, and emotions I'd turned my back on when I was ten years old.

Closing my eyes, I shook my head and pushed Scorpius away from me gently. Without looking at him, I move to the staircase. By the time I'm up to my door, I can hear his footsteps as he comes after me.

"Rose"- I slam the door before he can say anything. Grabbing my wand from the floor where I'd dropped it, I point it at the door. "Defigo." I mutter. A noise like a locking door echoes in my room as I lock Scorpius- and everyone else for that matter- out. Scorpius bangs on my door as I try desperately to block him out.

"Rose, please…" the rest of his plea is cut off as I all but yell _"Muffliato!"_ And rush as far away from him as I can get. Sitting in the tub in my bathroom, I hold a small, sharp blade in my trembling hand.

_Slytherin? Why do you have to be such a disgrace? _My mother's voice echoes in my mind from when I wrote her to say I was in Slytherin. _Cut._

_You're so pathetic, Weasley! No wonder everyone hates you! _The voice of Albus's friend Joan Abbot cackles in my memories. _Cut._

_Even the greatest wizards know when to stop, Rose. _I choke on a sob as the Bloody Baron's voice echoes in my thoughts. _Cut, cut._

_What did I ever do to deserve a worthless piece of shit like you as my child? _A laugh escapes me at my mother's hate full words. "I'd like to know that as well, Mommy Dearest." I whisper. _Cut._ My forearm burns and blood runs down my pale skin like a familiar trickle of water.

_Why do you live? _The demonic voice in my head screams. My tears burn my face like acid. _Cut. Cut. Cut. _

_I don't know! _I answer.

_Why don't you just go kill yourself?! _ Theresa Bones screams at me as an image of her sneering at me as she attacked me in Hogsmade when we were in Fourth year. _Cut. Cut._

My sight is blurred with tears, but I still see the unmistakable red of my blood that now pools on the bottom of the white bath tub.

"Why am I doing this to myself?" I scream as a sob wracks my body. Dropping the razor blade I stumble blindly out of the bath room, waving my wand around to take away the charms I put on my room. I can't stay in here, with the presence of my insanity threatening to drown me if I stay in that room. Trying to keep my weeping silent, I move from my room downstairs to the common room Scorpius and I share.

Collapsing on the couch, I burry my head in a pillow and sob. _Why me, why me, why me? _I ask myself over and over again, with only silence as my answer.

"Dear God, what did I do to deserve _this_?" I whisper with a trembling voice.


	7. Chapter 7

**Scorpius's POV**

I started writing songs when I was old enough to play a guitar. As I grew up, my lyrics grew better and their meanings grew deeper. All my songs started revolving around a similar topic around the time I turned fourteen, the certain maroon haired ocean eyed Weasley that seemed to be withering away right under the noses of the entire world. She didn't think I understood anything, but I knew more than she gave me credit for.

I know what Rose does to herself and it breaks my heart, while it also makes me hate myself to know that I'm part of the cause. But she could do so much better than a guy like me. I can't stand how awful I've been to her over the years, but I was a prick when we were kids and up until now I've been convinced I could fight my feelings for her if I just pushed her away long enough.

As I sit on my bed with my guitar in hand, the daunting pages of my song book stare up at me, daring me to bring them to life. I strum the first chords when a loud scream brings me out of my trance. Realizing that it's Rose, I drop my guitar onto the bed and rush out of my room and down the staircase to the small common room Rose had left me standing in hours earlier. There on the couch lay a small red haired figure, sobbing into a pillow, blood standing out on her delicate porcelain arm. I fight the need to gasp when the feeling of regret and self loathing stabs me right in the heart, knowing at one point in time I helped cause Rose to break.

Silently, I moved over to the couch until I knelt right beside her, gingerly placing my hand on her shoulder. A startled yelp escapes Rose as she suddenly sits up, wide eyed and shaking with fear. Her beautiful eyes land on me and she relaxes ever so slightly as pain, bitterness, confusion, and hope flicker through her eyes as she stares at me. Slowly, I reach out and caress her cheek with my calloused fingers and she freezes, not knowing what will come next. Frowning slightly, I move so that I am sitting on the couch beside her and I take her hand in mine.

"Why?" I ask quietly, my voice sounding unfamiliar as Rose's silence crushes me worse than if I was holding the weight of the word on my shoulders. Her eyes are lost and hurt, and her form trembles slightly as she looks at me with a tear stained face. She knows what I mean by my simple question, but she shakes her head as her walls go up and I can no longer attempt to understand her pain.

"I- I can't tell you." She whispers, so softly I just barely hear her. Anger bubbles up inside of me, and I jump up, startling her.

"God damn it, Rose! I understand that I've been a huge douche to you over the years but I care, Rose! _I fucking care about you!_ And I know for a fact that nobody here cares about you enough to ask about the scars on your arms and your legs or the bruises that appear mysteriously after you've had a "discussion" in private with either Hugo or you mum. But bloody hell Rose, I've cared about you since day one and even though I've been a huge prick it's killing me to see you like this, with these scars on your beautiful skin and those bruises on your perfect face.

"Please, please, _please_, Rosie. Why?" I ask, standing in front of her and fisting my hair in my frustration. Rose stares at me with wide blue eyes and shakes her head. She laughs bitterly and puts her head in her hands.

"You know, Scorpius, that's the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me." She says quietly. I inhale sharply at that, my anger rising again. _How long has she been so mistreated? _Rose stiffens, noticing my anger, and quickly moves from the couch to the large book shelf.

"The hat wanted to put me in either Ravenclaw or Slytherin." She says, rising on her toes to look for something. "I knew Hermione would never leave me alone if I was in Ravenclaw, she'd pester me and make me come to her house for holidays so she could groom me to have the perfect intellect, so I begged for Slytherin. My dad was proud, but Hermione… wasn't. Thank Merlin her son got sorted into Ravenclaw, otherwise who knows what she would've done… that woman came straight from hell." She says, muttering the last bit to herself. I don't miss the way she refers to Hugo as "her son".

"Rose"- I start, but she cuts me off, whirling around with a huge spell book in her small arms.

"Remember that spell that she patented in our third year? Alla Rovina?" she asks vaguely as she flips through the book. I nod, not understanding where exactly this is going.

"She said created it while studying the punishment and discipline tactics used by the guards that work with the dementors in Azcaban. That was a lie. She created it when she and my father had separated but weren't divorced yet, I was eight. She created it when she was abusing me. That's how she perfected it over the years. She uses it on me." Rose says with a somber voice. She thrusts the book at me and I take it, looking at the page she turned to.

_Alla Rovina_

_Created by: Hermione Granger_

_Use: Punishment of prisoners in Azcaban_

_*Alla Rovina; Italian; Verb: To ruin_

"Rose, I"- she shakes her head mutely and turns on her heal, leaving me in the common room alone again, as the first rays of sunlight come through the window.

* * *

A few hours later, I walk into the Great Hall, greeted by the usual controlled chaos that comes every morning. As I walk towards the Gryffindor table, I find myself scanning the Hall for one particular person.

My eyes land on Rose, deep in conversation with her only friend here at Hogwarts- the Bloody Baron. He's scowling at her and shaking his head I can see him telling her no, over and over. Rose slams her palm down on the hard oaken table and immediately grimaces and her arms go around her stomach as she lays her forehead on the table. She should be eating.

As I sit down at my usual table, I can feel someone's eyes on me. Trying to ignore it, I blindly reach for a pitcher of pumpkin juice, my gaze never leaving Rose as the Baron continues to argue with her, pleading with her now. As I take a sip from my glass, someone sits in front of me. I scowl and open my mouth to snap at the person, but then I see the yellow and black striped tie.

"Lily…" I say with shock in my tone. The young Potter girl looks at me sheepishly before glancing around nervously.

"Listen, Malfoy, I don't have much time. But I know you care about Rose. Please, don't hurt her. I don't know her, but I love her like a sister any way. Please, please, Malfoy, help her." She begs. Bewildered by her request, I nod. She thanks me quickly and scurries off towards the Hufflepuff table without another glance.

Taking another sip of pumpkin juice, I let myself glance back to where Rose and the Baron had been sitting moments before. Now, Rose was gone and the Baron was arguing with the Fat Friar. Frowning, I quickly grab my bag and rush out of the Hall, concern ebbing through my veins. Half way to the staircase, a feminine scream echoes through the empty corridors, accompanied by the sound of multiple running feet. I whirl around and move towards the sound, freezing when another scream hits me, this one right around the corner. Hesitantly, I look around the corner to see Albus Potter land a harsh blow to Rose's abdomen and see Hugo egging him on.

I'm sickened by the sight and almost rush around the corner right then. But Albus's words stop me.

"Pathetic fatty. You good for nothing little slut. Why's Malfoy so nice to you now, Rosie Posy? Huh? You his flavor of the week?" he taunts, shoving Rose's small form to the stone floor harshly. Suddenly, Hugo steps in, pushing his cousin to the side slightly. He bends down so that he's at eye level with Rose, whose struggling to sit up.

"You're nothing but a worthless piece of shit. Once the Malfoy git realizes that, you'll be back where you started- alone, with only a ghost and a razor blade as your friends. You deserve this, Rose. You know you do." He sneers, rising with his wand pointed at his sister.

"_Alla Rovina!" _ He bellows, a flash of sickly yellow sparks shooting out of the tip of his wand. Rose's screams are blood curdling. I can't take it anymore. I rush out from around my corner, but the duo is gone. Rose lays alone on the floor, limp and unmoving. Panic stabs my heart and I rush forward, kneeling at her side as I check for a pulse.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding when I feel her pulse. It's weak, but it's there none the less. As gingerly as I can, I shift Rose so that she's in my arms. I lean back against the wall, Rose resting against my chest. Moments later she awakes with a piercing scream, jolting upright with her arms poised over her head. After a long moment, she realizes her sorry excuse for a brother and cousin are gone and she sees me.

Nodding in acknowledgement, she rises on trembling legs only to have her knees give out suddenly. I shoot up and catch her before she can fall, only to have her grunt and try to push me away furiously. I sigh and hold her tighter to me.

"Rose. Let me help you. Just this once." I ask exasperatedly. She looks up at me with sad blue eyes and gives a small nod. Feeling the corners of my mouth lift up ever so slightly, I help her stand up and put my arm around her waist. She freezes and looks at me skeptically. I roll my eyes and chuckle.

"Do you want to fall over, or do you want to go to class?" I ask stubbornly. Narrowing her eyes, she huffs indignantly and nods, putting her own arm around my waist in return. I smirk slightly at the gesture but make to comment as we head to Transfiguration.

* * *

"Attention students, I have an announcement." Professor McGonagall's voice echoes throughout the Great Hall, effectively silencing everyone.

"It is time, once again, for the TriWizard Tournament to return to Hogwarts." She says, pausing as all around us students cheer and applaud. I'm sitting with Rose in her usual spot at the lonely end of the Slytherin table with the Bloody Baron who keeps tossing knowing looks towards Rose when he thinks I'm not looking.

"But this year, there shall be some differences than years prior. Instead of one student from each participating school, we have decided that two students from each school shall be chosen, one boy and one girl, to compete as a pair. Also, since Beauxbatons sadly cannot participate this year, Ameria shall take their place. They, along with Durmstag, shall arrive tomorrow." She concludes, leaving us all to return to out meal and converse about the Tournament.

"What's Ameria?" I ask dumbly to Rose. I haven't left her side for more than a few moments today, but I think that secretly she's grateful.

"The American school, I believe they're hidden away in Alaska." She answers quietly. I nod, watching her pick at her food half heartedly. Albus's words enter my mind abruptly.

"_Pathetic fatty…"_ he'd called her. How often did he say that to her? Often enough to make her believe them?

"So are you going to submit your name?" she asks, effectively distracting me. I purse my lips and shrug.

"I dunno, maybe." I say, I doubt that I really will. Rose grins grimly.

"I am." She says. _Well then I will too. _I think to myself.


	8. Chapter 8

**Rose's POV**

At dinner the next night I was exhausted to say the least. I stayed up all night reading at least one fourth of the books in the common room and then I had to go to six classes. It was all I could do right now to not fall asleep with a face full of mashed potatoes.

Scorpius sat across from me with worried eyes but I tried to ignore him as I argued with the Bloody Baron.

"You can't do this, Rose. I forbid you to put your name in that goblet." He whispers angrily. I scowl and shake my head stubbornly.

"Damit, you just don't understand!" I hiss, hesitantly glancing at Scorpius to see that he was lost in his own thoughts. "This might help me. If I die in the Tournament, it won't hurt my dad as badly as if I… you know what."

This had been our ongoing argument since the middle of last year and neither of us has budged with our opinions. The Baron glared at me and opened his mouth to say something but Professor McGonagall chose this moment to come over to the Slytherin table. And she was headed towards us.

"Bloody hell…" I mutter as she comes to a stop at our table.

"Hello, Miss Weasley, Mr. Malfoy." Professor McGonagall says stiffly, looking at me with her cat like eyes.

"Hello, Professor. Can we help you?" Scorpius asks politely. The professor gives Scorpius a wary glance before turning to me.

"Miss Weasley, I just needed to tell you that a Floo call has been set up for you in your common room after dinner." She requests. Only it's not a request, it's an order. My hands start to shake in my lap.

"Alright, Professor." I say, not looking up from my untouched plate. She nods curtly and walks off towards the podium Hagrid placed in front of the faculty table sometime in the last several seconds. _I think I'm going to be sick. _

"Scorpius"- Before I can say anything, Professor McGonagall's presence at the front of the Hall silences the student body, demanding respect and attention. _Who needs to Floo me after dinner?_

"Attention students, it is time for us to welcome two highly respected schools of witchcraft and wizardry much like our own Hogwarts. Please welcome the Durmstag students!" she announces, the doors to the Great Hall flying open the moment she ends her announcement.

In comes a group of around twenty handsome young men, all wearing long fur coats with matching caps. They carried tall staffs, each equal height to the carrier, with a different colored gemstone atop each one. They came in marching, their heavy boots echoing on the stone floor of the Hall. Suddenly, they all came to a synchronized halt, all kneeling in respect as their head master walked up to Professor McGonagall.

Karkaroff reminded me of a skeleton. A bearded, Bulgarian wizard skeleton. I didn't like him. He took Professor McGonagall's hand and kissed it in greeting.

"Pleasure seeing you again, Professor." He says, his Bulgarian accent charming to most ears but chilling to mine. The professor gave him a smile and turned back to face us all, the boys from Durmstag having now situated themselves alongside my fellow Slytherins.

"And now, students, please welcome the students of Ameria!" she grins. At her words, twenty more students come in, an assortment of young men and women this time. They all wear uniforms much like our own Hogwarts uniforms, white button down shirts with either black slacks for the boys or black skirts for the girls and ties. But their ties, instead of being house colors, are red white and blue. They all stop, forming a circle, and whip out their wands. A sudden flash of colored light comes from their wands and a shimmering image of the American flag appears above them for a moment before dissolving into a shimmering shower of sparks as a woman clad in blue robes comes forward to join Professors McGonagall and Karkaroff up front.

She's black. Her hair is pulled back and piled on top of her head in a tight knot. She reminds me of a mother, though I don't quite understand why. She smiles and shakes hands with the two other professors before turning and waving to us all. Professor McGonagall smiles again and turns to address us one final time.

"Welcome students, we hope you will feel welcome and at home here. As you can already assume, students from Durmstag will be staying with our Slytherin house," she's cut off for a moment as some Slytherins and Durmstag students cheer loudly at this further down the table from where Scorpius and I sit, "And students from Ameria shall stay with our Gryffindor house. Thank you, and enjoy your meal."

With that everyone begins to chatter loudly and I attempt to block it all out, trying to gage if I've pushed the food on my plate around enough for Scorpius to believe I've eaten. I hear something distantly, but I'm too focused on my mashed potatoes at the moment. I hear it again, and again, until a poke to my side makes me jump- physically and mentally- and brings me back to reality. I turn my head quickly to see Scorpius smiling sheepishly at me. I make an irritated noise and roll my eyes, causing him to chuckle.

"What is it, Malfoy?" I sigh. He rolls his eyes and takes my fork from me, jabbing a piece of meat onto it and pointing it at my mouth. I narrow my eyes at him, inwardly irritated at myself that I couldn't pull the wool over his eyes, and reach for the fork. He smirks and pulls it back slightly.

"Open your mouth." He orders, meeting my glare. I raise my eyebrows, shocked.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I exclaim loudly, causing a girl from the Hufflepuff table in front of us to look over skeptically. I blush and glare at Scorpius, whose smirking at me.

"I'm not kidding, Weasley. How do I know you won't just fling it across the room or at me or something? C'mon, just open up." He argues. Hmm, that gives me an idea. Looking at him with a devilish smirk of my own, I quickly snatch up my spoon and spoon up a good sized lump of mashed potatoes.

"Fling it at you or something, eh?" I ask as the corners of my mouth tug upward slightly. I don't know where this playfulness is coming from. Maybe it's just because I haven't slept in almost three days. Or maybe it's because I actually like Malfoy. Either way, I sort of like this, not keeping my head down and biting my tongue, not being afraid of someone's reaction.

Scorpius's eyes widen in shock. "Oh no, Rose"- before he can say anything else he's met with a face full of potato. He tries to wipe some off, but doesn't get much, and stares at me with wide, shocked filled greenish grey eyes. He keeps opening and closing his mouth, reminding me of a fish. And then I burst out laughing. I just can't stop and I keep laughing until my sides hurt and there are tears in my eyes.

When I finally stop and try to catch my breath, I chance a glance at Scorpius to see he's gotten the potato off and instead wears an ear to ear grin. Then he holds up his own spoon, loaded with mashed up carrots. I gasp and jump up, holding my arms out in front of me as I back up, as if they'll protect me from Scorpius, whose coming nearer.

"You wouldn't." I challenge. He grins mischievously and nods. _Oh shit._

He flings the carrot mush at me and it hits me square in the face. I squeal and wipe it off, rushing towards Scorpius and smearing it all over his cheek and his mouth. I giggle madly and smile up at him while he looks down at me with a smile. It's only now that I notice how close we are, barely a breath apart. He notices too, but instead of us backing away, we do something I'd never expect myself to have the courage to do.

Scorpius hesitantly hugs me close to him, his arms around my waist. Mine go around his neck, now there's no space between us. He looks down at me with hesitance in his eyes, but leans down slowly, giving me time to stop him- but I don't want to. He's a breath away when we both jump apart by a "Hello!" from a foot away.

I whirl around, refusing to look at Scorpius for the moment and trying to ignore the fact that I'm probably as red as my hair right now. Before us stands a couple that I assume to be from Ameria judging by the uniforms.

The boy is handsome, standing as tall as Scorpius, towering over me, with sun tanned skin and kind hazel eyes. He wears wire rimmed, square glasses and a knowing smirk as he looks at me and Scorpius. His honey colored hair is messy and his shirt isn't tucked and he wears Vans instead of dress shoes.

The girl standing next to him is pretty. Her dark hair is in a tight fishtail and her skin is slightly paler than the boy's but not much. She stands only an inch or two shorter than him, with knowing brown eyes and an eager grin. She has her arms crossed with a notebook to her chest and a quill behind her ear, there's a smudge of black ink across her forehead and spotted on her white shirt. Her tie hangs undone and her shoe has a hole in it.

Their appearances make me relax slightly, knowing now that they won't be stuck up, rich purebloods who think people like me or Scorpius are below them. They both glance at each other quickly, and then give us matching knowing looks. I blanch.

"Hello, I'm Alec Bentley." The boy says, holding out a hand as he introduces himself. Scorpius shakes his hand pleasantly but I flinch when he turns to me and shy away. An arm comes around me protectively and I look up to see Scorpius give me a gentle smile. The girl suddenly steps forward, causing me to flinch instinctively, and shakes hands with Scorpius.

"And I'm Molly McDougal- but I go by Mo, call me Molly and I'll kill you." She says with a grin. When her brown eyes land on me her grin widens and a hesitant fear pokes at my stomach.

"So, how long've you two been dating?" she asks. Scorpius and I look at each other with embarrassment, both of us blushing darker than my hair. It's me who answers.

"We're not dating." I say shyly, looking anywhere but at Scorpius, who still has his arm around me. After a moment, I look back to the two Americans to see Alec grinning brightly and Mo giggling crazily. Feeling a sudden confidence, I smirk and raise an eyebrow at the two.

"What about you two? How long've you been together?" I ask, with a slightly teasing voice. Before they try to answer, a new voice enters the conversation.

"Y'all are dating? I get Jace then!" the new person exclaims with a grin in her voice. She comes out from behind Alec and Mo, Alec blushing furiously.

She stands at Alec's shoulder, just about my height, with choppily cut pink hair and freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She's the palest of the three and has dark hazel eyes, biting her bottom lip to hide a grin. Her uniform looks alright in terms of wear and tear, though her shirt isn't tucked in and she wears bright pink Converse to match her hair.

"No! Jace is mine!" Mo cries, dropping her notebook and rushing at the newcomer. The girl yelps and dashes behind Alec, who reaches his arms back around her in a protective manor. Mo stops with a scowl at this and stomps her foot childishly.

"Damit, woman! You don't see me running behind my boyfriend every time someone tries to attack me Muggle style!" she pouts. The pink haired girl peeks out from behind Alec with a taunting look.

"That's because Jace isn't real!" she teases, yelping when Mo tries to lunge for her again. After a moment, Mo stops, both girls laughing as the pink haired girl comes out from behind Alec. When she sobers up, she looks to me and Scorpius with curious dark eyes. She leans up to Alec.

"Who're they?" she stage whispers, loud enough for us to hear. I can't help but chuckle at this, earning a quick squeeze from Scorpius beside me.

"These are the heads here at Hogwarts. Um…" Alec trails off and I realize we haven't introduced ourselves. Scorpius pulls away from me, making me frown as I suddenly miss his warmth and comfort, and he reaches out a hand to the girl. She doesn't shake it, she just stares at it until he drops his head with slight embarrassment.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy." He smiles. Before he can introduce me, I slide up beside him and give them a sheepish smile.

"And I'm Rose Weasley." I say, not offering her my hand. The girl smiles at this, almost gratefully, and hooks arms with Alec.

"I'm Michelle Stravaganti, this weirdo's girlfriend." She laughs, stretching up on her toes and ruffling Alec's already messy hair. He rolls his eyes and puts an arm around her, patting her head with his other hand and earning a playful glare from Michelle.

"And Molly girl's boyfriend sadly could not be here tonight… because he's a fictional character!" Michelle cries, causing Mo to turn red.

"Jace is real… in my mind." She mutters. I can't help but laugh at this, c'mon it's funny! I don't think I've ever laughed this much in one day, let alone half an hour.

"So, what houses are you two in?" Michelle asks curiously.

"I'm Gryffindor and Rose is Slytherin." Scorpius says. I nod in agreement, not expecting Mo's next question.

"Then why aren't you over with all the Gryffindors?" she asks, gesturing to where the Ameria students sit, chattering chaotically with the garnet and gold Gryffindors. Scorpius opens his mouth to answer, but my courage bubbles up again and I cut him off.

"Well you see, Scorp here is the father of my child and we were just discussing baby names. Right, Malfoy?" I ask cheekily. Scorpius, catching on, beams at me and puts his arm around me once more, kissing the top of my head.

"That's right, Rosie. What do you guys think of Grace for a girl? Grace Malfoy. I like that." He declares, both of us keeping straight faces. The three Americans gape at us, and I just can't stop there.

"Malfoy? My last name's Weasley, and last time I checked, I wasn't married." I argue with a mischievous smile. Scorpius looks at me with mock offense.

"But it's my child! So Malfoy has to be the last name." he says stubbornly, trying to hide a smile.

"It's my kid too, Malfoy. And are you carrying it around inside you for nine months? I don't think so! Weasley it is." I declare with a sense of finality, finally looking back towards the three visitors. They're all staring at us with everything from laughter to bewilderment to knowing in their eyes.

I can't hold it in any more and I burst out laughing, Scorpius soon joins in with me. After a moment, the three realize we were joking and join in on our laughter. When we all finally calm down, my sides were hurting and there were tear stains on my face.

"The truth though, is that we're Head Boy and Girl, and I was just hanging out with Rose." Scorpius says when we've all caught our breath. The three nod and tell us good night as they head to follow the rest of the Ameria students out of the Hall. Inwardly, I groan.

Time for a mysterious Floo call.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own any original Harry Potter characters or characters mentioned in the series!**

**Author's Note:**

**Hello! Just telling you right now, I do not mean to offend anyone with the remarks the characters make about "Gay" people, it's just how I wrote them up and I apologize to those of you readers who can't take a joke.**

**Rose's POV**

Scorpius and I walked back to the tower in silence. Every once in a while, though, when he thought I wasn't looking, he's smile at me. I was smiling too. I can't remember the last time I was so close to being "happy". I think I liked it.

When we enter the tower, he leaves me alone and goes up to his room, leaving me to a Floo call I'm not sure I want to have. The moment I sit down in front of the fire place, the flames crackle to life and a familiar face appears.

"Dad!" I cry, smiling widely. I haven't seen him in over two months, but I haven't really been able to think about how much I missed him lately. He's been on some sort of top secret assignment in Ireland since the middle of July and I haven't been allowed to have any contact with him.

"Hey there, Rosie! How've you been?" he asks with a smile. A pang of guilt stabs at my gut as I put on a stiff smile, all the giddiness from moments before gone completely now. I hate lying to him, but…

"Oh fine. The TriWizard Tournament's here. I think I'm going to submit my name." I say, trying to sound excited. He furrows his brow and frowns slightly at me. _Oh hell._

"I don't think that's a good idea, Rosie. The Tournament is extremely dangerous to participate in." he says sternly. I sigh and roll my eyes, I was expecting this argument.

"But Uncle Harry was in it- when he was under age no less! - And he won! C'mon, Dad, have a little faith. I probably won't even be picked." I plead. My dad chuckles at me and shakes his head.

"Oh, alright then. I heard the rules've changed; do you know anything about that?"

"Yeah, Professor McGonagall announced it all to us. This year they'll chose two students from each school, a boy and girl. I wonder how that'll work for Durmstag." I say, suddenly curious.

"Who knows, maybe the goblet'll choose a really girly boy to participate." He laughs, earning a chuckle from me in return. He can always make me laugh, when he's around, that is.

"Wait a minute," I say, suddenly realizing something. "_Dad!_ You're not supposed to contact anyone outside of your assignment until you're done!"

"Yes, I know that, Sweetie." He sighs good naturedly. I give him a confused look and he continues. "Rose. I'm done." He says slowly. I squeal, getting a laugh from him, and throw my hands up in the air.

"Really? So you're coming home?" I ask eagerly. Dad chuckles at my excitement.

"Yeah, and I'll probably make a visit to Hogwarts around Halloween, so I can check in on my favorite girl." He grins.

"Professor McGonagall?" I tease. "Isn't she a bit old for you, Dad?" he just laughs at this.

"Very funny, Rosie. I better go now, but I'll write you soon, alright?" the flames start to flicker as he says this.

"Alright, I'll see you soon." I sigh. He gives me one last smile.

"I love you, Rosie." My heart clenches. _Why'd he have to say that?_

"I love you too." I say as the fire goes out, my voice thick. I sit in the dark common room, my joyful mood extinguished. The familiar feeling of guilt burrows itself in my stomach and I know I won't be able to sleep tonight. My feet begin to move of their own accord, and soon my senses are assaulted by the all too familiar moldy and damp air of the dungeon where I spent so many lonely nights in my years here at Hogwarts. Sighing, I sink down into my usual corner and pull out my wand.

My mind remains empty, much to my relief, as I point my wand at an abandoned quill on the floor and a powdery spark turns it into a little bird. It doesn't fly, though, it just hops around, making me chuckle slightly. This is what I usually do when I get hit with the guilt of hurting my dad if I…

I don't think he suspects it. I'm genuinely happy most of the time I'm with him, but ever since my third year at Hogwarts, he's been sent on more and more assignments and I see him less and less. It's hard enough to be alone here at school, but at home, with no ghosts and no paintings to talk to, I feel like I'm going to go insane. I should just tell him about how I feel about all his assignments, but he loves his job and I know it was his dream to be an Auror when he was younger, and I just can't do that to him.

Sighing, I point my wand at the bird and watch grimly as it bursts into a red shower of sparks.

"_Expecto Patronum." _I whisper suddenly, trying to focus on the fleeting moments of happiness I'd felt in the Great Hall with Michelle, Alec, and Molly. A weak sliver of silver light came out of the tip of my wand, but nothing more.

"Damn it!" I cry, throwing my wand across the dungeon. I've never been able to cast a patronus. I shouldn't have expected that it would be any different this time. Suddenly, an all too familiar sneer echoes in my mind.

"_Ha! I knew you couldn't do it! You're just a stupid piece of trash, can't even perform a simple spell. You are most definitely no daughter of mine…"_ I can't even remember what the spell was at the time. I just know that those were Hermione's words, and I've remembered them every time- _every damn time_- I couldn't do something as simple as cast a patronus. _Merlin I hate myself. _And I do.

My hands started shaking first, and then it was my arms up to my shoulders and down my back until I was completely trembling, like there was an earth quake going on inside my soul. I bit my lip so hard it bled, my head hurt and my eyes burned while my throat tightened. And then the first sob escaped me.

I fisted my red hair and drew my knees to my chest, sobs echoing around the dungeon like they had so many times before. Suddenly, I was glad that I was down here, in the cold, wet, dark dungeon, and not up in the Head's Tower, in my room where my stash would be all too close to ignore.

"I'm sorry." I whispered with my sounding voice strangled. "I-I'm sor-ry. I want to get better." I sobbed, and for the first time in my life, those words weren't a lie. I want to get better, so badly it hurts like hell. "I w-want to get better." I whisper again. Then, I swallow hard and say firmly, "I will get better."

_I hope._

* * *

I wake up to someone poking me repeatedly in the face, yanking my wand out of my bun and pointing at them reflexively. When I blink the sleep from my eyes, I realize I'm in the Great Hall, with my wand pointed squarely at Mo. Blushing sheepishly, I bite my lip and stick my wand back into my bun.

"Hello, Sleeping Fishy." She chirps cheerily. Scorpius, who sits across from us, gives her a confused look.

"Don't you mean Sleeping Beauty?" he asks. Mo chuckles at him and shrugs.

"No, I mean Sleeping Fishy. 'Cause it's the mermaid princess who has red hair- Sleeping Beauty's a blonde- so I compromised and combined the two." She explains, looking at me with a bright smile. I do a double take when I realize her eyes are blue today.

"Hey, Mo?" she turns to me with a raised eyebrow. "What color are your eyes?" She frowns and furrows her brow, thinking hard.

"Well, today's Friday and it's almost September. And it's not a leap year, so…" she counts something off on her fingers and suddenly claps her hands together. "Hazel, I think." Scrunching my brow, I glance at Scorpius and see that he wears a similar lost look. Right then, Alec and Michelle sit down beside him, oblivious to our discussion. But the moment Michelle gets a look at our faces, and then at Mo's eyes, she smiles and nods with certainty.

"Mo's eyes are blue because she went to a hole- in- the- wall eye doctor instead of St. Mungo's a year or two ago and they did this spell that gave her perfect vision, but they change color every ten or so hours." She explains. The blonde and I nod with understanding.

"So who was that Floo call from, Rose?" Scorpius asks after a while, causing me to almost choke on my toast, I still wasn't used to being acknowledged regularly by anyone except the Bloody Baron or Hagrid, who I avoid, as much as possible.

"Um, it was my Dad." I say sheepishly. Scorpius nods but Alec suddenly joins the conversation.

"Isn't your dad Auror Ron Weasley?" he asks avidly. I nod, feeling my ears turn red with embarrassment. I didn't think Americans heard about my dad, guess I was wrong.

"And Hermione Granger's your mom, right?" I swallow hard at this and Scorpius stiffens beside Alec.

"That's debatable." I say stiffly, taking a sip of my pumpkin juice. Alec opens his mouth to say something more, but Michelle pokes his side and gives him a sharp look. Internally, I sigh with relief, thankful she read into my discomfort.

"So," I say, changing subjects, "What do you guys think Durmstag's gonna do about the new competitor rules? One boy and one girl? Only boys came." Michelle smirks at this.

"Well it's obvious." She states, as if it truly is obvious. After a moment of us all staring at her expectantly, she rolls her dark eyes and continues. "The Goblet of fire is going to spit out two names for Durmstag. The name of a straight guy and the name of a gay guy."

We all laugh at this. I've quickly learned a few interesting things about my American acquaintances. Alec is athletic; he plays Keeper at school on his Quidditch team and goalie on a soccer team in his home town in America. Michelle is very blunt and opinionated, but gets really sensitive about stuff easily. And Mo is loud and unpredictable; some moments calm and tired looking, then doubled over laughing or yelling nonsense.

Soon, we all bid each other good bye and head to our classes for the day. As Scorpius and I walk to the green houses, I can't help but groan. Double Herbology with the Gryffindors, at eight in the morning, that means five hours of Professor Longbottom lecturing about the difference between Gillyweed and Gill Sprouts. _Joy._

* * *

"Rose, can you come here for a moment?" Professor Lupin asks as I'm about to leave Defense Against the Dark Arts. I try to swallow my fear as I turn and go over to his desk. Teddy's been my honorary cousin all my life, but just like James and Lily, I don't really know him personally.

"Yeah, Teddy?" I ask nervously. I really hate being so short, everyone towers over me and Teddy is no exception. It only puts me more on edge.

"I was just wondering if you were considering putting your name in the goblet." He shrugs casually. I groan and slap my forehead.

"Did my dad owl you?" I ask with irritation. Teddy chuckles nervously and shakes his head.

"No. He Flooed Harry. Harry owled me." I huff irritatedly and cross my arms.

"Bloody hell. Yes, I'm going to put my name in the bloody goblet. And don't try to convince me otherwise." I sigh.

"Actually," he starts, scratching the back of his neck and looking slightly uncomfortable. "I was going to encourage that you do. You're my tops student, aside from your patronus issues." _Oh, you just _had_ to mention that!_ I think bitterly.

"You'd have a great chance. And if you do get chosen, I'd love to help you." He concludes. I look at Teddy with wide eyes, waiting for him to start laughing at me.

"You're joking, right?" I ask. His brow creases as he looks at me with a frown.

"No, I'm completely serious. In fact, I know someone who can help you cast a patronus. C'mon, Rose, if you can cast a patronus I have no doubt you'd be the best witch in the Tournament." He cries. I look at my cousin for a long, drawn out moment as he stares at me with a pleading look.

"Fine."

* * *

"Rose?" Scorpius asks, his shock obvious, when he walks into the abandoned tower where I was supposed to meet my "patronus tutor" that Teddy set me up with. I was furious to say the least when it dawned on me that Scorpius was my tutor. He's the top student at Hogwarts, the guy everyone likes, and the one person besides my awful family that I didn't want to know I couldn't cast a patronus.

"Hello there, Scorpius." I sigh, twirling my wand between my fingers nervously. I was just waiting for him to burst out laughing at me. This felt humiliating.

"You're the girl who needs help with casting a patronus?" I sigh and nod meekly, not looking him in the eye. _Just wait for him to start making fun of you,_ sneers the voice in my head. I frown when I'm met with silence and after a long moment I finally look up and see Scorpius staring at me with a look in his eyes I haven't seen since I was a young child and have long since misplaced its identity from my memory. Sensing my gaze, Scorpius shakes his head and awkwardly clears his throat before pulling out his wand.

"Let's get started then, shall we?"

It's been three and a half hours and we've made no progress. I groan in disappointment as I fail another attempt to cast a patronus, sliding down the wall and sitting on the floor with my legs out in front of me.

"I'm sorry Scorpius, but I think it's official, I can't cast a patronus." I sigh exasperatedly. Scorpius stubbornly shakes his head and sits down next to me.

"I don't understand why you can't do it, Rose. Everyone can cast a patronus." He exclaims. I laugh slightly and give him a shrug.

"Maybe I'm defective." I joke. But we both can hear that my voice is hollow as I say that. _I am defective._ Scorpius shakes his head and scowls at the stone floor.

"You're not defective, Rose. Don't say that." He says. "What memory are you using?" I pale and look away from him, sensing that we're approaching painful territory for me.

"The day my parents' divorce became official. My dad got custody over me and we were both so elated, I felt safe and happy for the first time ever." I answer quietly, not looking at Scorpius. Most people would be upset if their parents got divorced. I was elated. Guilt settled in my stomach and I felt slightly sick, waiting for Scorpius to call me an awful person because that was my happiest memory.

"Well the happiness must not be strong enough or genuine enough with that memory. What other happy memories do you have?" he asks. I turn to him with shock. Where's the mocking? Where's the disapproval? He gives me a confused look and I realize he's not like everyone else. He's not going to call me out on my imperfections like everyone else.

"I don't really have any others." I whisper. Scorpius looks at me with confusion and before I can stop myself, an explanation pours out of me.

"My father was rarely around when I was a child, always on assignment. And Hermione… she's always been a sick manipulative bitch who wanted to kill me. She was very good about never abusing me when my father was home, but when he was gone she'd go full out. She turned Hugo against me. There're still these weird, fleeting moments when his hatred for me wavers and he treats me like he actually cares but…

"I don't think I have one genuinely happy memory from my childhood. And after the divorce I was always at the burrow when my dad was away. I think I'd developed my fear of general socializing by then, and I was always hiding in my room with a book. Then I got here and I'm bullied by everyone because they all listen to Albus and Hugo because they're just so bloody fucking perfect," I'm talking loudly now, verses my usual quiet tone, gesturing wildly with my hands.

"So yeah." I conclude, slightly flustered. I can't believe I've just told Scorpius Malfoy the basis of my darkest secrets. Merlin I'm stupid. His beautifully pale green eyes are filled with that same emotion I can never name, a look of awe on his face. I fidget uncomfortably under his gaze until I finally can't take it anymore and let out a loud huff.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask warily. He bites his lip and looks away from me as a slight blush creeps onto his face.

"Sorry, I didn't realize I was…" he trails off nervously rubbing the back of his neck. I want to say something more, but my stomach decides to make a noise similar to what I think a dying narwhal would sound like causing me to flush redder than my hair in embarrassment as Scorpius laughs slightly.

"C'mon," he says, holding his hand out to me. "Let's go get some dinner." I give him a bashful smile and take his hand.

"Lead the way, Scorpius."

**What do y'all think? I personally liked it but seeing as how I'm the author, I'm kinda biased. Please review! I want all y'all's input on this so I know if this is total shit or not! What do you think, about Rose spilling her story to Scorpius? Which Ameria students should go in the tournament- should Alec and either Michelle or Molly go in? What d'you think'll happen when Ron comes to Hogwarts? Remember Rose's promise to Harry? Will she follow through? **

**THESE ARE MY UNDYING QUESTIONS DEAR READERS! PLEASE ANSWER THEM!**

**-Hopelessromantic220**


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